Ontario reports 4 new cases of coronavirus

Mar 1 2020, 11:22 pm

Ontario health officials confirmed four more cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday.

That’s in addition to the four cases reported Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 15.

Three of the new COVID-19 cases are tied to travel history to Iran, and the fourth is tied to travel history to Egypt.

One case is in a man in his 50s who is the brother of one of Toronto’s other recently reported cases. He returned recently from Iran, but didn’t develop symptoms until after he arrived in Canada. He’s in self-isolation at home, and officials don’t believe he exposed anyone else to the virus.

Another man, in his 40s, is married to the woman identified as York Region’s first coronavirus patient. The couple came back with their toddler on February 26. The husband was not symptomatic while travelling, and self-isolated before he developed symptoms.

A third man in his 60s who came back from Iran on February 23 went to North York General Hospital on February 28 with a cough. He was discharged after being tested, and self-isolated at home. Toronto Public Health is currently tracing his contacts.

The fourth new case is in a woman in her 70s from Newmarket, Ontario. She travelled to Egypt with a man who was identified on Saturday as Ontario’s eighth case of coronavirus. She is also in self-isolation.

“At this time, the virus is not circulating locally,” Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, said in a news release. “However, given the global circumstances, Ontario is actively working with city and health partners to plan for the potential of local spread.”

Canada has now seen 24 cases of COVID-19, the name the World Health Organization gave to the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019.

Megan DevlinMegan Devlin

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